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Apple and Samsung Electronics are expected to confirm their dominance among smartphone-makers when they report earnings this week. The companies have taken sharply divergent paths to the top, notes to this analysis, which compares their strategies. The pair -- the only major manufacturers to gain market share in the fourth quarter -- earned 91% of the industry's profit in that quarter, compared with 61% a year earlier, research firm Strategy Analytics reports.

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LG's smartphone shipments rose by 26% in the first quarter, compared with the same period a year ago, as revenues grew by 5%. The company unveiled its G4 flagship this week, saying it hopes to sell 8 million units in 2015, a 20% increase from the G3, as the world's fifth-largest smartphone-maker tries to improve in a market dominated by Apple and Samsung Electronics.

The U.S. market shares of the top five smartphone-makers remained relatively stable in the first quarter compared with a year ago, although Samsung Electronics made up a small amount of ground on leader Apple, comScore reported. LG Electronics edged past Motorola into third place.

CTIA-The Wireless Association® has objected to California legislation that would limit authorities' ability to track a wireless user's location, saying the bill would "create greater confusion for wireless providers when responding to legitimate law enforcement requests." The measure would require police to procure a search warrant before tracking phone customers, except in emergencies.

In an effort to retain his top executives, Huawei Technologies founder Ren Zhengfei has named three top officials to share the CEO role with him in six-month rotations. "This is succession planning with Chinese characteristics," said David Wolf of Wolf Group Asia, a marketing consulting firm. The Chinese telecom gear-maker also said that despite higher revenue, its 2011 profit slipped because of currency and investment costs, but it predicted that it would triple its smartphone unit sales this year to 60 million handsets.

HTC today revised its first-quarter sales estimates downward, citing competition and a product transitional period. Chief Financial Officer Winston Yung said the Taiwanese smartphone-maker faced strong headwinds in the U.S. market from Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy handsets as the company prepares to introduce new products.